Booysens residents willing to move away from flood area

Residents of Booysens extension 4 say the recent floods were nothing new.

Some of the residents have had to open holes in their walls so that when it rains, the water is channelled outside their houses to prevent flooding.

The residents were relocated to serviced stands by the metro in 2018 from the Gomora informal settlement. They said they moved to the area for better services, but they have not seen any improvement.

“We did not put ourselves here, the municipality put us here,” said a resident.

One of the residents, Rachel Kekana, said they realised that the area was problematic when they were relocated in 2018.

Kekana said they noticed that every time it rained, some of the water rises.

“Sometimes the children sleep on the floor. This is very dangerous because sometimes we are fast asleep when the rains start.”

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Kekana said she has had to change the furniture in her house several times because it was damaged by the rainwater.

“The furniture we moved in with here was destroyed by the rains. We had to buy new furniture because every time it rains, water floods the house.

“There was an MMC on Monday who visited the area. He told us that we have been placed in a dangerous area and they will make a plan for us. The only thing that will help us is if they just build houses for us.”

Another resident, Johanna Mhlongo, said they woke up on Friday evening and her whole house was flooded with water.

Mhlongo said her child almost drowned because the water got into her house.

“I woke to go to the bathroom. Immediately, when I put my feet on the ground, the water was knee-high. My five-year-old child wanted to follow me and he fell inside the water. I rushed to pick him up and put him on top of the bed.

“This flooding issue here is dangerous because we stay with children here.”

She said managed to open the door and rushed to her neighbour.

“We had to sleep next door because the water was too much. Every time it rains, we start panicking. The only time we feel safe is winter because there’s no rain. I would be the first one to move if offered the chance.”

MMC for Human Settlements Abel Tau said a dam was at the centre of the settlement and usually when it rains, the dam overflows.

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“There is work that needs to be done to make sure that stormwater drains and roads are better built.

“Fortunately, people in that area were not washed out. We had about 23 families housed in a hall in Transoranje and thus far they have been able to rebuild their lives.

“This is not an area where people can be swept away. The extent of flooding is that the water can come into the houses up to knee-high at the worst.”

Tau said he has been looking at possible ways to move the people who are living near the dam.

“Fortunately, the people are willing to move. As the city, we should be able to solve the issue quite soon.”

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